Sweet Blue
by candybot
Summary: They were her's and she was theirs'. Satou Shigeki, Kojima Yuki, Mizuno Tatsuya.
1. I

**A/N: **I'll probably continue this.

Whistle! © Higuchi Daisuke

* * *

><p>(i.)<p>

She's mad at them on a matter of principle; after all, she did have to stop practice and yell at them for their incessant, married couple's bickering. But she can't help smiling when they've wordlessly handed her an ice-cold, blue raspberry popsicle-stick, her favorite.

(ii.)

They're lying down in the grass one day, staring up at the blue sky and watching the clouds roll by, when Yuki says, "I love soccer." There's silence for a moment before they both reply in unison, "We know." And she smiles.

(iii.)

They're at the sidelines, waiting to start practice, when Seiji off-handedly remarks that Yuki is cute. Shige grabs him a little too roughly around the shoulder and drags him onto the field. Tatsuya gives him a cold, calculating glare. When he relays this to Shibusawa, the older teen is just glad that Seiji is still in one piece.

(iv.)

When they were younger, around eight or nine, they used to play make-believe: the princess, the prince, and the dragon. Their roles were largely undefined; one day the dragon would be the green loveseat that sat in the middle of the living room in the Kojima household. Another day it would be Tatsuya's dog, wrapped up in Shige's favorite green blanket. There were also times when Tatsuya and Shige would fight over who got to be the prince. On days when Tatsuya was the prince, Shige was an old, ugly peasant. On days when Shige was the prince, Tatsuya would be his noble, if cranky, steed.

And one day when Yuki was so tired of their fighting, she forced Shige into a blue dress and white kitten heels two times too big – not-so stealthily taken from her mother's closet – and told them _both_ that _she_ was going to be the prince. They stopped fighting that day because it was an unspoken agreement that she would always be their princess.

(v.)

They're back from Korea, jet-lagged, disappointed, and overall devoid of any energy, when they see her. She's nervous and a bit out of place, looking through the crowds for a familiar face. They notice that her eyes are a little red and her cheeks, a little pink. She spots them and her lips curve into a smile.

_Welcome home._

Somehow, they feel a little less tired.


	2. II

**A/N: **This collection ended up a little more bittersweet.

Whistle! © Higuchi Daisuke

* * *

><p>(vi.)<p>

They could never understand.

They did not know of the pain and suffering she endured.

They could not comprehend her irritability at the slightest annoyances.

All they knew was that during certain days of the months, Yuki was their Queen.

(vii.)

At the Kojima household, fading, worn marks adorn the doorframe leading into the kitchen. As children, Shige, Yuki, and Tatsuya had been nearly inseparable. They played together. They ate together. They were _together_.

Her mother had suggested it first. _What a great way_, she had said, _to watch our children grow_.

In the beginning, the marks were indistinguishable – Yuki was Shige, Shige was Tatsuya, and Tatsuya was Yuki. They were one in the same.

As the years went on, the faint lines would chase each other up the frame, battling to be the highest mark. One year, Yuki had been taller than _both_ boys were and the year after, Tatsuya had grown a few inches, enough to be the highest mark adorning the frame. The race continued for years until Shige had finally become the tallest of the three.

She's thinking of this one day, as she watches them run down the field. And Yuki realizes with a sweet bitterness that they've already begun leaving her behind.

(viii.)

She's anxiously waiting for them, glancing up every so often to check the ever-changing list of arrivals.

Her eyes are red, having slept little the night before, too nervous to close her eyes and wait for tomorrow. Her cheeks are tinted pink, dry from the biting cold.

She twiddles her thumbs and bites her lip in restlessness.

It is not long before she spots them – that familiar yellow and brown.

They're tired, she sees. But there's _something_ else, brimming beneath the weary exterior. An eager determination.

Her boys had become men.

(ix.)

At some point, they realize that Yuki is different. A female. A _girl_, to be exact.

When they were younger, they were aware that Yuki was a girl. They were smart boys. They did play the princess, the prince, and the dragon, _after all_. But they also played soccer, and wrestled, and fought, and generally got physical.

They were practically the same. Except for her long hair, different way of speaking, and occasional preference for flower-patterned, brightly colored skirts.

It isn't until a particular day, during a particular game of Futsal do they realize this.

Shige and Tatsuya bicker over positions and Yuki stands to the sideline, removing her cumbersome skirt to reveal comfortable black running shorts. A few gawks and unintelligible splutters later, Tatsuya and Shige realize that they have a crisis on their hands.

(x.)

They're all smiles, getting their tickets checked and she, waving good-bye.

But a part of Yuki is angry that they're leaving her behind again.


	3. III

Whistle! © Higuchi Daisuke

* * *

><p>(xi.)<p>

It started as a game.

There they were – Tatsuya, Yuki, and Shige – stuck with cleaning duty on a moderately warm summer afternoon.

Tatsuya had been diligently sweeping his corner of the room and Yuki had been wiping down the blackboard when Shige, quite bored of sweeping already, took his broom and swatted a paper ball. It narrowly missed Yuki as she ducked down to pick up a sopping, dirty cloth, but it had hit Tatsuya squarely in the face.

Two hours later, after playing several convoluted games of a hockey-soccer-basketball morph contriving of equally convoluted rules, the trio realized that the class was in a worse shape than when they had begun.

Their raucous laughter alerted the teacher on duty and when he walked into the room, he gave them a stern lecture on the proper usage of janitorial equipment.

(xii.)

As best friends go, Tatsuya and Shige are two sides of the same coin. One is black and the other is white. Tatsuya is studious while Shige is laid-back; Shige revels in spontaneity while Tatsuya excels in strategic-based tactics; Tatsuya is order and Shige is chaos.

They never thought they would find common ground between two very different people.

Not until one day, when that "_supposed_" ace striker from Musashi no Mori off-handedly says that Yuki is cute. They both suppress an odd urge to strangle Seiji Fujishiro.

They realize that they're not so different after all.

(xiii.)

It's the middle of winter.

They've finished making their midnight rounds at the temples. Yuki's hands are freezing; her nose is bright red like an overly ripe tomato. She can barely stop her teeth from chattering.

But as the others happily, loudly decide on their positions, Yuki grabs their hands: Tatsuya on her right, and Shige on her left. This was all she needed.

She couldn't be happier.

(xiv.)

"So, what do you think, Tatsu-bon?"

"No."

"_But_! It's Golden week, Tatsu-bon!"

"No. And stop calling me Tatsu-bon."

"What's going on?"

"Kojima-san, I—"

"_Yuki-chan_! Listen, listen—"

"…Stop planning the training camp in the atmosphere of a married couple."

"…"

"It's disgusting."

(xv.)

On the day of the graduation ceremony, a girl from another class stops Yuki as she's leaving the gymnasium.

"K-kojima-san! Which is it: Mizuno-kun or Shige?"

"Well, I don't really care but, knowing them, it's probably both."

The girl gasps, startled. She runs out, crying.

Yuki is confused; it easily could've been either Shige or Tatsuya.

Did it _really_ matter who could eat the most chili peppers?


	4. IV

Whistle! © Higuchi Daisuke

* * *

><p>(xvi.)<p>

To others, there was little common between the three.

Tatsuya was exceptionally bad with children, Shige not-so-secretly liked romantic comedies, and Yuki had a low tolerance for idiocy.

But if there was one thing they knew they could always agree on, it was an _undeniable_, _obsessive_ love of soccer.

(xvii.)

Shige had been the first.

It had been hard running away from home, leaving behind everything: his friends, family, and _soccer_.

But he had been abandoned.

And so, he learned not to care too much but to love from afar.

(xviii.)

Yuki was next.

She loved soccer: had grown up with it, playing every day with her older brother.

But there was no future for her, a girl.

No team for her, no matter how _desperately_ she wanted to play.

And so, she lived in the shadows and learned to love from afar.

(xix.)

Tatsuya was last.

He had loved soccer, too.

But what was playing, if not winning?

Pressured by his father: to succeed, to become number one. He was nothing if he wasn't the best.

And when he began enjoying the game, loving to just _play_, he was abandoned.

And so, he learned to win but to love from afar.

(xx.)

It had been hard.

Hating something they loved _so_ much had been much too hard.

Giving up on the one thing they loved _so_ much had been much too hard.

But they fell, tasted the bitter feeling of disappointment, endured false hope, cried in despair, and had to learn how to get back up again.

It was painful.

But they loved it too much.

So they endured, they learned, they got back up and never stopped loving.

_Soccer_.


End file.
